Safety device



SAFETY CE June 23 1932.

Filed April 23. 1930 Patented June 28, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT err-ionWILLIAM D. THOMAS, OF LYNN-FIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOEMACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON,

JERSEY SAFETY Application filed April 23,

This invention relates to safety devices and is herein illustrated asembodied in a work table and a guard for ting machine.

A leather splitting machine commonly comp-rises a knife to which thepieces of leather are fed by a pair of feed rolls, and a. table overwhich the pieces are presented one by one by the operator to the rolls.The

pieeesof leather which are to be split vary greatly in length and inthickness; but, for the purpose of explaining the present invention, toplifts and soles will be considered as representing the extreme limits.Top lifts are commonly not more than three inches in length and aquarter of an inch in thickness, while soles are often several timesthat length andtwice that thickness. It should be understood that thesefigures are not intended to be accurate and are used merely to makeclear a problem which is encountered when an attempt is made to preventinjury to the fingers of the operator and at the same time to interferein no way with the operation of the machine.

Vhen top lifts are being operated upon, any guard should be fairly closeto the feed rolls so that the short lifts may be presented to the biteof the rolls. The guard should also be as close as possible tothe' uppersurface of the table so as to prevent the operator from sticking thetips of his fingers through the opening between the guard and the tablethrough which the lifts are presented. When soles are to be opera-tedupon, the opening between the guard and the table should be increased;but this increased space will permit the operators fingers to passthrough it with the danger of having them caught between the feed rolls.Consequently guards, such as that disclosed in Letters Patent No.1,477,537, granted December 18, 1923, upon an applicaton filed in thename of Darius W. Bunker, have been provided which are capable ofbeingad 'usted into two positions according to whether the pieces ofstock are comparatively short and thin or comparatively long and thick.When-in position for use with top lifts or similar short pieces, theguard is located nearthe' rolls cf the splituse in a leather split- INEW JERSEY, A- COBEOR-ATION OF NEW DEVICE 1930. Serial No. 446,773.

ting mechanism and spaced above the table just enough to permit toplifts to be pushed beneath said edge. When in position for soles, it islocated at a distance from the rolls greater than the length of theoperators fingers, and its lower edge is spaced from the tablesufliciently to permit soles to pass beneath it but insufficiently topermit the palm of the hand of the operator to pass.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improvedconstruction of work table and finger guard of the type referred to.

According to one feature of the invention the guard is mounted upon apivot, the pivotbeing so located and the dimensions of the guard suchthat, when the guard is swung into one position, its lower edge isnear'the surface of the work table and near the oper'- ating mechanism; and,when the guard is swung into another position, its lower edge is fartherfrom the surface of the table and farther from the ope-rating mechanism.In the illustrated construction the guard i p'ivotally mounted betweentwo spaced uprights which are integral is provided for locking the guard1n either of two angular positions about its pivot.

In the use of a leather splitting machine happens that chips or skivingsit sometimes are carried around by the lower roll up against the underside of the work table and into the space between the roll and the inneredge of the table where they may become jammed. In orderto avoid thisundesirable possibility, there is provided, according to another featureof the invention, for the work table such that the work table'- may'yield to permit the skivings to pass through the space. In theillustrated construction the table is pivoted tothe frame of themachine; and a compression" spring, located between a depending and theframe of the machine, holds the table normaily in a position determinedby a suitable stop, and permits the inner end of the from the lower rollof the table to yield away splitting mechanism.

These and other features of the invention.

with the table and means a mounting,

arm of the tablewith its lower edge including certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will be described as embodied inan illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a machine in which theinvention is embodied; and

Fig. 2 is a perspective of the work table and guard.

The leather splitting machine chosen for illustration comprises a frame3, upper and lower rolls 5 and 7 a knife 8, and a short table 9. Therolls are driven continuously in a direction to feed the work to theknife, and the bearings of the upper roll are adjustable verticallytoward and from the lower roll to determine the thickness to which thework shall be split. The machine, as thus far described, is old and wellknown, and has been chosen first because it represents generally a typein which presentation of the work is accompanied by some danger andsecond because a particular danger is involved in the presentation ofwork to leather splitting machines due to the differences in thicknessof pieces of work which are operated upon.

The table 9 has depending arms 11, 13 having alined bores to receivepivot screws, one of which is shown at 15, said screws being carried byspaced bars on the frame, one of which is shown at 17. Through the lowerend of the arm 13 is threaded a stop screw 19, the inner end of which isnormally spaced from the frame of the machine. Encircling the stem ofthe screw and extending into a socket in the arm 13 is a compressionspring 21 which bears at its inner end against the frame of the machineand tends to swing the table 9 about the alined axes of the pivot screws15. A stop screw 23 (Fig. 2), threaded through a lug which is integralwith the table 9, contacts with the frame of the machine and limits theextent to which the table may be swung about its pivot screwsby thespring 21. The purpose of this mounting of the table 9 is to hold itnormally in the position shown while permitting it to swing in aclockwise direction a small distance, depending upon the distance of theinner end of the stop screw 19 from the frame of the machine. At times,during the operation of the machine, the skivings, which pass below theknife, may cling to the lower roll 7 and rise into a position betweenthe roll and the inner end of the table. In such case the inner end ofthe table may yield upwardly to prevent such skivings from becomingjammed between the roll and the inner end of the table.

Before describing the guard mechanism in detail, a brief outline of itsmode of opera tion will be given. A guard 25 in the form of a plate of alength about equal to that of the rolls and having a rounded lower edge125 is so mounted that it may be swung into and held in either the fullline or the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. In the full lineposition the opening between its lower edge 125 and the surface of thetable 9 is suflicient to permit a comparatively thick piece of work,such as a sole, to pass through but is not sufiicient to permit theoperator to push his fingers through it far enough to reach the feedrolls. When the guard is used on a splitting machine, the height of thisopening is about five-eighths of an inch, and the distance from thelower edge 125 of the guard to the rolls is about six inches. In thedotted line position the opening between the lower edge of the guard andthe surface of the table 9 is of less height than in the full lineposition, being suflicient then to permit a comparatively thin piece ofwork, such as a top lift, to pass through it, but insufficient to permiteven the tips of the operators fingers to pass through.

WVith regard to the table of the machine, the member 9 which has beenreferred to above for convenience as the table, is in the presentmachine really one section (herein after referred to as the mainsection) of the table and is comparatively short so as to be suitablefor use with top lifts. In order to render the table longer for use withsoles, there is provided an extension section 309 which is pivoted tothe main section about the alined axes of the pins 27, 29 and is soconnected with the guard 25 that, when the extension section 309 isswung up into full line horizontal position, the guard is swung backinto its full-line position; and, when the extension section 309 isswung down into dotted line position, the guard is swung forward intoits dotted line position. There is thus provided in effect a short tablefor top lifts and a longer table for soles.

Proceeding now to a description of the details of the mounting of theguard the main section 9 of the table has integral with it two uprights31, 33 to the upper ends of which the guard is pivoted about the alinedaxes of pins 35, 37 which are held by set screws 39, 41 in alined boresin bosses formed on the guard and extend into bearings in the uprights.A segment 43 and a crank arm 45 are integral with one end of the guardthe right-hand end as viewed in Fig. 2. Pivoted to the arm at 47 is theupper end of a link 49, the lower end of which is pivoted at 51 to theinner end of an arm 53 which is integral with the extension section 309of the table. In order to hold the guard 25 and the extension section309 in either of the two positions indicated respectively by full and bydotted lines in Fig. 1, the segment 43 is provided with two sockets 55,57 into either of which a locking pin 59 may be caused to extend. Thislocking pin is held in a boss formed on the upright 33 and is urged atall times toward the segment 43 by a compres- Sion spring 61. The pinand the sockets are so located that the pin engages the lower socket 557when the extension section 309 and the guard 25 are in the full linepositions, and engages the upper socket 55 when the section and theguard are in their dotted line positions.

As shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the extension section 809 occupies itsoperative position, the guard 25 being positioned correspondingly sothat comparatively thick soles may be presented to the machine. When nowit is desired to present shorter, thinner pieces of work, such as toplifts, the pin 59 is pulled out of the socket 57, and the extensionsection 309 is swung down into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1.This downward swinging of the section 309 acts, through the arm 53, thelink 49 and the arm 45 to swing the guard 25 into the dotted lineposition shown in Fig. 1 and brings the socket 55 in the segment 43 intoregister with the springpressed pin 59 which thereupon locks the partsin position.

Although the invention has been set forth as embodied in a particularmachine, it should be understood that the invention is not limited inthe scope of its application to the particular machine which has beenshown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table over which the pieces are presented, a pivot, aguard hung on the pivot for swinging movement, the location of the pivotbeing such that the guard may be swung toward the mechanism into aposition in which its lower edge is near the table and away from themechanism into a position in which its lower edge is farther from thetable, and means for locking the guard in either position.

2. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table over which the pieces are presented, a pivotlocated above the table, a guard mounted on the pivot, said guard havingan arm by manipulation of which it may be swung into two positions inone of which its lower edge is near the mechanism and near the table andin the other of which its lower edge is farther from both the mechanismand the table, and means for holding the guard in either position.

3. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table over which the pieces are presented, a pivotlocated above the table, a guard hung on the pivot for swingingmovement, the location of the pivot being such that the guard may beswung toward the mechanism intoa position in which its lower edge isnear the table and away from the mechanism into a second position inwhich its lower edge is farther from the table,said guard having aportion provided with two sockets, and a spring-pressed pin for engagingeither'socket to hold the guard in the desired position.

4. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table having a main section adjacent to the mechanism,and an adjustable section movable into and out of operative position inwhich it forms anextension of the main section, and a pivoted guardadapted to be swung about its pivot into two positions in one of whichits lower edge is near themechanism and near the main table and in theother of which said lower edge is farther from the mechanism and fartherfrom the main table.

5. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table having a main section adjacent to the mechanism,section movable into and out of operative position in which the mainsection, a pivoted guard adapted to be swung about its pivot into twopositions in one of which its lower edge is near the mechanism and nearthe main table and in the other of which said lower edge is fari therfrom the mechanism and farther from the main table, and means adapted toengage difierent localities on the guard to hold it in a selectedposition.

6. In a machine which pieces of work are presented by an operator, atable having a main section adjacent to the mechanism and an adjustablesection movable into and out of operative position in which it forms anextension of the main section, apivoted guard, and connectionsbetweenthe adjustable section and the guard such that adjusting theadjustable section swings the guard into different positions.

7. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table having a main section adjacent to the mechanismand an adjustable section movable into and out of operative position inwhich it forms an extension of the main section, a pivoted guard,connections between the adjustable section and the guard such thatadjusting the adjustable section swings the guard into diiferentpositions, and means for locking the guard in a selected position.

8. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table having a main section and a pivoted adjustablesection, a pivoted adjustable guard, connections between the adjustablesection and the guard such that adjusting the section adjusts the guard,and

and an adjustable it forms an extension of having mechanism to means forlocking the section and the guard in adjusted position.

9. In a machine having mechanism to which pieces of work are presentedby an operator, a table having a main section and a pivoted adjustablesection, a pivoted adjustable guard, connections between the ad justablesection and the guard such that adjusting the section adjusts the guard,and a spring-pressed pin for locking the section and the guard inadjusted position.

10. 111 a machine to which pieces of work are presented by an operator,a table over which the work is presented, .apivot, and a guard hung onthe pivot, the location of the pivot being such that the guard may beswung into two operative positions in one of which its lower edge isnear the table at a locality in front of and near the mechanism and inthe other of which said edge is farther from the table at a locality infront of the mechanism and farther from the mechanism whereby short thinpieces of work and longer thicker pieces of work may be presented to themechanism without danger to the fingers of the operator.

11. In a splitting machine having a knife and a roll for advancing thework to the knife, a table upon which the work is placed and over whichit is said table being normally so located that there is a small openingbetween its ii'ner edge and the periphery of the roll, and meansincluding a spring for holding the table normally in this position whilepermitting it to yield to permit a skiving which is too large to passthrough the opening to move the table and thereby increases the size ofsaid opening sufficiently to permit the skiving to pass through.

12. In a splitting machine having a knife and a feed rolh a pivoted worktable having a portion over which the operator may present a piece ofwork to the roll, the inner edge of said table being at all times spacedfrom and held from movement toward the periphery of said roll, andyielding means for permit-ting the table to rock on its pivot so as toincrease the space between its inner edge and the roll.

In testimony whereof I name to this specification.

WILLIAM D. THOMAS.

have signed my presented to the rolls,

